No Gravity
by Lovin' LushLaws
Summary: She just wanted to be left alone, trapped within the confines of her own room. But what she never expected was for someone to knock on her door, hoping to be let in, and begging for her to emerge.
1. Chapter 1

"Leave me alone!" The sound of rushing feet echoed through the hallway, bouncing off the hard cherry wood floors. The hallway was illuminated yellow by the sconces that hung on the wall, but the light was swallowed by the dark flooring.

A single girl ran down the very end, ignoring the other footsteps that were steadily catching up to hers. She stretched for the golden knob attached to a white door, yanked it open, and slipped inside of the shadowy depths of her room before slamming it shut.

"Ally?! Ally?! Please, open the door, sweetie." Her mother's words were blurred out, a loud ringing buzzed through her eardrums as the rest of the world faded out. She could feel the doorknob rattling in her hands as her mother desperately tried to invade her room from the other side. She held on tightly, her hand losing its grip as the edges of her vision began blurring. With the lights still off, she could only see the white wooden door in front of her, but even the painted over wood grain began warp in her eyes. She only had a few seconds to make her mother go away.

"Open the door, Ally. Open the door." It was a constant mantra. Open, open, open. Well, maybe she didn't want that. Maybe she didn't want to be opened. She loathed how they watched over her, silently analyzing her every movement. Their stares were whip lashes, cutting through her flesh, opening her up for further examination. She didn't want to be looked at. Her body was marred and marked; a constant reminder of impurity. Why open up where everyone could see her bruised, broken, and more importantly hideous body and face?

"Open the –" A click was heard and the door handle refused to budge. Locked from the inside out. Trapped from the outside in. Her knees buckled and she finally collapsed, not bothering to turn on the light as she rested her side against the door. She rested her eyes, not yet ready to let down her defenses.

She heard steady footsteps as they approached her, as she lay against her door. She saw the shadows of two legs that joined her mother. Struggling to hold onto her reality, she pressed her ear against the wall, desperate to hear what her parents were discussing. The voices were whispered, but without any other noise in the house, it sounded almost clear through the doorway that separated them

"How'd it go this time, Penny?" She heard her father's exasperated sigh, as if he already knew the answer. She could already see the disappointed look on her father's face. She shrunk down, folding into herself.

"Same as last time, Lester." Her mother let out another sigh. A sharp pain stabbed her in her gut. She couldn't help but feel guilty. It was her fault; she was the cause of her parents' continuous worry. Wetness was being held prisoner in her tear ducts, forbidden to fall down her cheeks.

Distracted by her own guilt, she didn't hear the rest of what her parents were saying, but she was shocked back to alertness when she heard one of her parents rattling the knob, in a last hope that it would miraculously open.

"Ally?" She heard her father say, delicately. Not expecting a response, he continued. "Your mother and I are going to head to Sonic Boom for a while, but don't worry, we'll be back in about an hour or so. We love you." She heard their proceeding footsteps as they walked away. Still having her ear pressed against the wood, she could make out the rustling of jackets, heels clicking against the cherry wood, the closing of the door and a click of a lock.

Alone at last.

She was never sure whether to be relieved or frightened by their absence.

When they were at their house, it was empty words and condolences. Her father would try to tell lame jokes in order for her to crack a smile, and her mother, who returned from Africa to watch over her, would vocalize a fake laugh and show overly cheery smile. It had to be a boisterous laugh, and it had to be a big smile that would stretch her cheeks until they hurt. How else could they try to fix their daughter?

But when she was alone in the house, shadows roamed on the walls. Silhouettes of shattered dreams and a past life Ally could only wish she could forget. The words that he said plastered themselves in dark lettering against the walls, another lie, a different threat, and more criticism. The outline of degradation and humiliation stalked her footsteps as she padded barefoot, wandering through all the rooms in the house. Isolation became a familiarity to her, one that she was too eager to let go, yet too scared to give it away.

Submitting to the exhaustion her soul so desperately craved, she permitted the dark room to enter her body and swallow her whole.

And only then, did single teardrops trail down her face.

* * *

She heard it. Over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. They rushed through her head, slamming against her skull, begging to be let out. It lost its meaning. It no longer holds truth to the matter. They're all lies now. And she is no longer worthy of such lies.

_"You're a great singer, Ally."_

_"You're so beautiful, Ally."_

_"I love your smile, Ally."_

_"You're so smart, Ally."_

_"Your eyes are so lovely, Ally."_

_"Your music is amazing, Ally."_

_"I love you, Ally."_

Lies all lies. Lies that _he _told her, just to lure her into him. And she so foolishly fell for them.

If she was such a good singer, why couldn't she sing up on stage anymore?

If she was so beautiful, why did her stomach lurch whenever she looked in the mirror for too long?

If her smile was so nice, why did her grin never seemed to reach her eyes?

If she was so smart, why was she ridiculed relentlessly for it?

If her eyes were so lovely, why were they wide, sunken and dull, lifelessly staring at nothingness?

If her music was so amazing, why couldn't she make it in the business?

If she was so loved, why did she hate herself?

* * *

She woke up to pitch darkness, sprawled out on the floor. The rough carpeting scraped, raw, against the tissue of her face. An excruciating pounding in her head made itself present. Rocks were smashing against her meninges; ricocheting between it and her brain, causing acute agony to shoot through her skull and down her spinal cord. Though her closed eyes, she saw flashes of small lights. She wouldn't be too surprised if those were the millions of nerves in her head, bursting.

_Deep breaths, Ally. You're not there anymore. You're here. In your room. Your safe and sound room. He didn't have carpets. It was always hard wood._

She ignored the fact that although he had wood, there were also rugs. She didn't need to remind herself. Heavy cement was rushing through her bloodstream, pulsing against her temples.

_Just... just look._

Allowing the pain to subside, she lifted her head a few inches. Regret, regret, regret. Crippling torture poisoned her insides. Squeezing her eyes shut and gritting her, she rested her head down once again on the carpet, panting laboriously. Tears prickled at the corners, threatening to spill and follow the disloyal teardrops that had already dried on her cheeks. This was one of the worst times. Emotional turmoil would mingle and mix with actuality, leaving reminiscent of authentic pain.

_Not this time, Ally. _She scolded herself._ Pain is weakness. _

She opened her eyes. To nothing. A black hole void of matter and mass. Was it nighttime? Had she finally gone blind? Was her mind playing tricks on her? Disregarding the pain, she lifted her head once more, wincing slightly. Turning her head and looking around, she saw that it wasn't pitch darkness, she could still make out shapes of corners of furniture, and the painted white door stood tall in front of her nose. Only then did Ally notice the light that slipped underneath the doorway.

It was still daytime. Her parents left. The door was locked and the lights were off.

She brought herself to a sitting position, allowing her body to lean against the sturdy door. Taking in deep breaths, she turned her body around. grasping at the siding of the door, using the claw marks her nails had already indented into them; she hauled herself to a standing position. Dragging her hands across the paint, feeling the pores in wall, she found the light switch before turning it on.

A dim glow travelled across the room as an overhead light flicked on. It wasn't overly bright to cause her vision to go white, but it wasn't so shaded that she couldn't see. Shadows blurred with light, there no longer were sharp and distinct profiles of furniture. The edges were faded, unknowing to where the darkness stopped, and the light began. She scanned her ordinary bedroom setting. A bed on one side, a desk and chair on the other, a vanity which she never used anymore, a dresser, one side table with a lamp with no bulb, and a worn out, old keyboard and music stand, tucked away in the corner collecting dust from misuse and neglect.

She set her eyes on her goal. The single bathroom attachment. With the light switch on, the doorway only looked like a rectangular dark hole. She padded barefoot, slowly reaching closer and close to the cave, waiting for twilight to devour her. Shadows like these were all too familiar, alluring her into their clutches before they snatched her in. Darkness would surround her vision 360° degrees, the light seemingly miles away; much too far to get back.

Standing right in front of the open door, her back warmed by the sun, her front chilled by the moon, she struggled against the pull of the shadows hands. His hands grasped at her forearms, digging in his nails to tear soft flesh, leaving meaty finger indentations that would later bruise over into blue and purple. She stuck one arm in, offering more than fifty percent of her body into the shadows. Hands seized the opportunity at a full arm and grabbed it with a vice like grip.

She quickly searched for the light switch once again, and turned it on. The hands and body withdrew into small crooks, too weak to try to hold onto her. She made her way to the center of the room, underneath the light overhead. She relieved herself before heading to the sink. She looked at the soap dispenser as she washed and dried her hands, she kept her eyes cast downward as she opened all of the mirror cabinets. Looking through the three pill bottles, she grabbed one for her headache.

Empty.

Her mother had emptied out all of the bottles, leaving only the amount for a single dosage. If she wanted more, she had to go ask for more. Her mother kept the rest of them under lock and key. She was going to ask her mother to put in two more. But that's when the questions started. Then she looked at the first aid kit, but knew it was fruitless. No pills would be in there. Her mother had stored in a store-bought first aid kit. Once, when she was bored, not wanting to read the walls anymore, but not yet ready to go out, she read the back of the kit, checking if everything that it listed was in there. Gauze pads, check. Band aids, check. Gauze roller bandage, check. Disinfectant wipes, check. Scissors, not check. Tweezers, check. Gloves, check. Adhesive tape, check. Splint, check. Resuscitation bag, check. Directions for requesting emergency assistance, check.

She wasn't surprised that they took out the scissors. She honestly thought that her mother and father should be a bit more discrete about showing what they thought about their daughters' mental stability. She hated being treated like a child and a _suicidée._

She made her way over to her bed, shards of her headache still reminiscent. She sat on her bed and shut her eyes. Not tired, but not wanting to see the words written on the wall in front of her.

* * *

Soft knocks broke her out of her dazed state. She opened her eyes and looked around to room, wondering if something had landed on the carpet, or maybe it was just the sounds the house made. A few more knocks brought her attention to her white wooden door.

"Ally?" She heard her mother asked, gently, on the other side. She hesitated moving from her spot on the bed. She was already comfortable as the comfortable dipped at her body weight, partially warm from sitting there for a while.

"Ally? Could you open the door? I have some – t-thing to tell you" Her mother persisted. Ally, already accustomed to listening to others talk, noticed the faint stutter, between the words 'some' and 'thing'. She exhaled slowly, getting ready to move from her spot. Her mother left her alone like she asked and gave her time to herself. The least she could do was open the door and acknowledge what she had to say.

She could hear the bed as its groaned when she moved, disturbing its balance she had set. She moved towards the door. She stood in front of the door, trying to regulate her breathing once again. Without looking, she unlocked the door, the click was the only sound other than the sound of her breathing. She stood, waiting at the door once more. She knew her mother wouldn't try to open the door, they had already established a mutual, yet unsaid agreement, that she would be the one who opens the door.

Twisting the knob, but not opening it, she took in a deep breath before she opened the door all the way. She was greeted by her mother, her hands folded in front of her with an overly enthusiastic smile on her face. Next to her stood a smiling tall teenage boy. He was taller than her mother, had blond hair and was wearing a plain white t-shirt, sunglasses which hung from the v-neck and blue denim jeans. In the back she noticed a beaming tall redheaded teenage boy, taller than the blond, wearing checkered pants with the suspenders hanging, a t-shirt with an image of a clip art ham over a patterned dress shirt.

"Ally, I'd like to meet Austin and his best friend, Dez." Her mother said with a smile on her face. At the mention of his name, Dez raised his hand and waved happily from behind the two.

A glance, a frown, and the reverberating slam of the white door was the only answer to her mother's introduction. Her mother's smile dropped from her face, and Dez still waved to the closed, white, wood door.

"Well, that went well." Austin said facetiously, his smile just a bit unsure and confused.

Dez stepped forward and placed one of his hands on his friends shoulder, a cheeky grin still emanate on his face, regardless of the short brown haired girl's blatant rejection. "I think she likes us."

* * *

This was actually written by my friend, "Red Compassion, Red Love, Red Hate" on the Austin & Ally Wiki... So... Go check them out. Red suggests you listen to _Skyscraper_ by Demi Lovato to get a sense of Ally's feelings in this chapter.

[Review] to make me more popular than the plastics! - Nick Laws

Every time you don't [review], a gay baby turns straight. Do it for the gaybies! - Matthew Lush


	2. Chapter 2

_"__Ally, I'd like to meet Austin and his best friend, Dez." Her mother said with a smile on her face. At the mention of his name, Dez raised his hand and waved happily from behind the two._

_A glance, a frown, and the reverberating slam of the white door was the only answer to her mother's introduction. Her mother's smile dropped from her face, and Dez still waved to the closed, white, wood door._

_"__Well, that went well." Austin said facetiously, his smile just a bit unsure and confused._

_Dez stepped forward and placed one of his hands on his friends shoulder, a cheeky grin still emanate on his face, regardless of the short brown haired girl's blatant rejection._

_"__I think she likes us."_

* * *

He was about to interject, however the distinct sound of a door locking answered the blonds comment. In spite of the girl's less than friendly response towards his best friends' obliviousness, Austin couldn't stop the small smirk from forming on his face. The girl had sass. He gave her that.

Dez, however, seemed to be taking it a different way as he harrumphed, furrowing his eyebrows and frowning, a clear contrast from his usual quirky personality. "Well, that was rude." He commented, still scowling at the door. Austin attempted to comfort his friend, but was once again, interrupted by the girl's mother's apology, who had seemed to snap out of her shocked trance-like state.

"O-o-oh. I-I-I am so sorry, for Ally's behavior." She stammered. Her cheeks flushed crimson as her face rose a few degrees higher, much to her chagrin. Penny was still in a state of shock, mortified by her daughters' faux pas, and the unwanted attention that was included with it. She bowed her head in a submissive pose, pressed her lips together tightly, and kept her eyes glued to the bottom of the door in front of her which had become suddenly interesting. Light was showing though the cracks at awkward angles from the frayed hairs on the carpet. Part of the white paint was chipped, which betrayed the original light wood hiding underneath.

"It's okay, Ms. Dawson. No biggie." A relaxed smile graced his features; brown eyes looked back at the door. Ally's attitude intrigued him. He felt half confused, half excited, half nervous, half anxious, and half jumpy; all at the same time. Normally, girls and guys swooned over him; not to brag about himself, but he was pretty easy on the eyes. He snapped back as Ms. Dawson's mumble intruded on his thoughts.

"-understand if you want to leave"

"Nah, we'll stay. Right, Dez?" Austin looked over his shoulder at the redhead. Dez continued pouting, but looking at the blonds' hopeful smile and eyes, he let out a loud defeated sigh. Austin rolled his eyes and his lips upturned at Dez's melodramatics.

"Oh, well, that's fine, if you want. I'll just be in the kitchen if you need me." She stumbled over her words as they were jumbled in her head, remixed in her larynx and lost at the tip of her tongue. Her face turned a light pink and the tips of her ears felt warm. Blushing furiously, she wove her way though, flinching as she brushed by the two boys' arms in attempts to remove herself from the doorway and get through the narrow hallway. She kept her eyes cat downward and didn't say another word to the two as she rapidly walked away, her heels creating hushed clicks against the wood.

She didn't lift her head until she recognized the island and barstools in the middle of the kitchen out of her peripheral vision. As she lifted her head, she saw her ex husband, grinning smugly at her, and once again, she looked down sheepishly.

"So, I'm assuming it didn't go well?" He smirked, but the sharp glare she gave him in no way deterred him as he watched complacently.

She sighed, resting her elbows on the table and propping her head up in her hands. "I don't know what to do anymore. She won't talk to me, she doesn't talk to Trish, and she never leaves this house. I'm scared that's she's going to hurt herself one of these times."

The self assured grin disappeared as quickly as it had came at the mention of their daughter, and a sour look replaced it. He, too, was worried for his daughters' sake. It just wasn't healthy for her to lock herself away from the outside world. He saw he little baby girl deteriorate right in front of his own eyes, and there was nothing he could do to help. She refused to see anyone, and whenever they even remotely brought up the topic, it would only end in her screaming, running towards her room and locking the door. He tried telling her some jokes. _Hey, Ally! Why couldn't Beethoven find his teacher? Because his teacher was Haydn_. Nothing worked, and he never felt so helpless.

He reached across the table and stroked her forearm reassuringly, a rare display of affection. "I'm worried, too."

She lifted her head from her hands and offered a soft smile, silently thanking him. Worry lines soon reappeared on her forehead. Her mood swings were soon becoming as frequent as Ally's. "I thought that bringing someone like Austin would help Ally come out of her shell, even just a little bit." An air of melancholy once again surrounded the two adults, as they both sighed, thinking of how they first met the two boys.

* * *

_Hearing the slam of the door once again, he removed himself from the living room couch. By now, the space that was once occupied with music and laughter was filled with screams that faded into deafening silence. He headed towards the end of the hallway, his footsteps made thick clomp as he trudged to his daughters room._

_"How'd it go this time, Penny?" He whispered to his ex wife, who was currently looking down at her hand which clenched around a locked doorknob, willing it to unlock itself. He knew that Ally was most likely directly on the other side of the door, hanging onto every word he said, but at least he could try to seem more covert about it. _

_"Same as last time, Lester." He looked back at the white door that stood in front of him. "We need to do something. I-I can't just have her lock herself in her room." He placed a gentle but firm hand on her and began to rub soothing circles, in attempts to try to prevent Penny from breaking out into hysterics. He shushed her quietly and he could feel her body convulse as she wept beneath his hand, yet no sound came out of her._

_"Hey, hey, hey. How about we head to Sonic Boom, I need to lock up. We can get out of here and leave Ally alone for a while. Maybe we'll see Trish and ask her to come over or something." He tried to calm her down, she was trembling and he could only hear the faintest sniffle come out of her. There was no doubt that tears would be cascading down her face. Her hands still held onto the door handle, gripping it as if it was the only thing that kept her upright._

_"I just want my baby girl back." She mewled and tried once again to forcibly unlock the door by violently shaking the knob once again. He grabbed onto her shoulders and removed her away from the door. Taking a hold onto her wrist, he pried her hand away from the doorknob. Tears streamed down her cheeks and her hand blocked her mouth as silent sob racked her body._

_He came closer to the white door. "Ally?" He asked her, gently, not wanting to frighten her. He paused, and pressed his ear to the wood, but he wasn't able to distinguish any recognizable noise. All sounds were stifled by the thick, white, wooden barricade. He should've known either way. She barely uttered a sound now. The ghost of his daughter loitered around in their household, a stranger to him and everyone else, noiselessly haunting whoever occupied the shared space._

_He looked back at the young woman who used to be his wife, teary eyed and red faced. "Your mother and I are going to head to Sonic Boom for a while, but don't worry, we'll be back in about an hour or so. We love you." He waited a few more seconds before removing himself from the door. He placed his hand on the small of her back and led a teary eyed Penny to the hall closet. He held out the back of her lightweight jacket and helped her guide her arms through. Quickly slipping on his own jacket while she slipped into her shoes, he escorted her out the door. _

_Looking back inside, he saw the pale walls and white siding and the sconces that were now off. He saw the cherry wood floors and how the natural light that peaked through the lattice windows created odd shapes. He didn't see his smiling princess as she would talk avidly about whatever was new. He didn't hear the feathery sounds that drifted through the air as her nimble fingers hit piano keys. He shut the door and locked it with his keys. Without the two in there, even with a person still occupying the house, he only heard silence._

_Walking on the sidewalk was quiet, the only sound was their synched footsteps, the leaves rustling as the wind ticked it, and the occasional car that passed by. He didn't speak, instead, he allowed his wife to calm herself. By then, the tears had stopped rolling down her cheeks, and all that was left was the faintest trail, and the rest was evaporated into the air. She wiped her face with the back of her hand and let out an uneasy, breathy chuckle. He turned his head and asked if she was well._

_"Yes, I'm fine now." said Penny. "Oh, god. What did I just do?" She chided herself for her reckless outburst at their home._

_"It's okay. You were upset, it happens. But let's not think about that now. It's a sunny day and there's just enough breeze. Let's just enjoy this moment, alright?" He timidly grabbed her arm and looped it around his. It wasn't too intimate, but it showed that she still cared for his ex. She looked his way, and this time, she could feel the wind as it laced through her hair, tugging a few loose strands out of its natural hairstyle._

_"I'd like that."_

...

_"Okay, Lester. We need to find a friend for Ally." Penny informed her ex husband once again, as they walked through Miami Mall. She knew her daughter needed someone to hang out with, especially since Trish moved away. Penny frowned; Ally had refused to go see a therapist, after him. She mentally cursed the boy who caused her daughter so many traumas. Ally had never told her the extent of what exactly happened, but she knew enough, and every day she would see her only child recede into herself, lonely and depressed. _

_"I know, but let me just go lock up Sonic Boom first." Lester told her, snapping her back from her thoughts. She looked around, children were laughing and playing outside, the sun warmed her skin and a cool breeze tickled as it wove between her locks of hair. She began thinking of her daughter once again, trapping herself in her room for the 4th time that week. She quickly shook herself out of her morose thoughts as the store came into view. The sound of drums reached their ears._

_It didn't take much to have Lester delink their arms and start running- well, jogging- towards the store to unveil the culprit. "No one's supposed to be playing the drums!" Lester exclaims and pushed through the double doors of the store. Penny followed in pursuit, attempting to catch up, wondering who was playing. _

_"Hey, kid! Did you not see the 'Please do not play the drums' sign?" Walking through the doors, she heard him ask the boy who was currently sitting on the drummer's seat with two corn dogs in his hands, a cheeky and carefree smile played on his face. _

_Despite the boy not being able to follow the rules, she liked him; he looked ambitious. He had that certain spark in her eyes that was parallel to Ally's before_ him_. He seemed to have that love of music and simply a joie de vivre, much like a young child._

_Before the free spirited boy could answer, another boy with red hair stepped forward, addressing her husband. "Sir! We are making a music video, I am the director, although I prefer the term, filmmaker." Penny looked at the two boys; they seemed to be about Ally's age, the tall redhead seemed a tad odd, but friendly none the less._

_"Listen, I don't care if you are making a video or not, unless you plan on paying for those drums-" _

_"Lester, Lester, Lester." She interrupted his rampage, in attempts to placate her ex husband. She already had an idea in her head, and having him drive away the two boys would surely ruin it. Yes, it was a long shot, but after numerous locked doors from one side, and tears from both, she was getting desperate._

_She took a hold of his arm and forcibly yanked him away from where he stood firmly, planted to the floor, glowering at the two boys. "Would you two mind staying there for a moment?" She threw them an overly pleasant smile and gave one last sharp tug to eventually uproot her ex husband. _

_The two boys stood watching with puzzled looked, but after watching as the man was moved, the blond shrugged along with his friend and began to munch on the corndog in his hand._

_"Penny, what are you doing?" At her pointed glare, his eyes widened in realization. "No. Penny. No." He started to beg her. In response, she nodded her head in the two boys' direction. Turning back around, Lester grimaced slightly as he witnessed the boy eating his corndog that he used to play the dusty drums with. "They're teenage boys. Teenage. Boys. Why can't we just ask Trish?" He protested, pouting out his bottom lip. At her single raised eyebrow, he sighed. He knew Trish was, for the most part, out of the question. She was working like crazy; her mother actually forced the girl to maintain a steady job._

_"Fine." He gave in, pulling a face, still upset over the matter, but knew that is was futile trying to argue with her when she set her mind to something. She smiled broadly at her triumph, and scooted past Lester, who continued to sulk and clapped her hands together._

_"Hello, boys. I'm Penny Dawson and this is my husband, Lester." She introduced the two of them, leaving out the 'ex-' for the sake of privacy. "Lester here owns the store, don't you?" She asked him, she gave him a quick jab with her elbow into his side and he forced a smile._

_"Yup." He acknowledged through gritted teeth._

_"Oh, I'm Austin and this is my friend Dez." The blond introduced himself and gestured to the redhead._

_"Well, we were wondering if you two would meet our daughter." She smiled, in attempts to convey a friendly suggestion. _

_"Oh, uh, well." The blond flustered. "Thanks Ms. Dawson, but I – uh – I'm only 16 and – um- I mean-" He stumbled over his words, and she quickly intervened, saving him from a more awkward situation. _

_The boys were both looking at her as if she suddenly grew two heads. "Oh, no. My daughter, Ally, is a bit shy, so she's having some trouble making friends. She's a very nice girl, though." Penny assured them, hoping that she sounded sincere and genuine._

_The blond and redhead turned their heads to look at each other, sending silent messages to each other. She knew that she probably sounded insane to the teens; having a grown woman ask two fairly young teenage boys to her house to supposedly meet her daughter, didn't exactly sound appropriate. Hoping to persuade them after seeing their dubious expressions they sent each other, she composed an offer for the two of them. _

_"If you meet our daughter, you can... have this drum set." She knew it was a long shot and probably sounded similar to a young child being coerced into a white van with candy, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Ally wasn't going to come out of the house, so the only other option for her to meet new people was to invite them over, no matter how strange it many appear._

_"What?" She turned her head at the squeak and saw Lester gawking at her with an open mouth and wide eyes. She sent him a fierce glare, daring him to say more. His mouth tightened into a thin line and his face turned a few shades pinker. Her attention turned back to the two boys that talked to each other in hushed whispers. Even though the redhead seemed a bit more easygoing, the blond looked much more skeptical on the situation. Eventually, after watching the two slightly argue under their breaths, they both faced her. She crossed her fingers and held her breath, waiting for an answer._

_"Okay. We'll do it."_

* * *

The two sighed simultaneously. Despite Lester's original impression of the blond and redhead, he still thought they were nice boys, well, nice enough.

"I'm so worried, Lester." She told him.

"I know, Penny. I know."

* * *

Hearing the heels clicking away as they went down the hall, Austin faced the door once again. Once again, incertitude washed over him. How was one supposed to talk to a door? Doors didn't talk. Doors didn't answer. Doors didn't laugh or smile or listen or breathe or blink or think or anything that a person did. Especially nothing a short girl with pretty, brown hair. Well, maybe except for swallow. He continued to look at the door, contemplating his options. He already said he would stay, but something told him she wasn't exactly in a talkative mood.

He looked over his shoulder, and shrugged. Dez, over his dramatics, walked closer to the door, rubbing his palms together. Austin backed away from the door, giving Dez the space he might need.

"So, uh, Ally. Nice weather we're having, huh?"

No answer.

"How about them Mets?"

Nothing.

"Have you heard that new song by R5?"

Nope.

"Did you see what happened on the news?"

Nada.

"Your, uh, door really brings out the color in your, um, flooring."

No.

The last piece just resulted in a confused look from Austin. Dez could be a tad bizarre, yes, but even that was a bit out there. He saw as Dez's shoulders slumped as he huffed and crossed his arms against his chest. He slowly approached the, once again, bitter redhead. Dez abruptly turned to face him, a moue on his face.

"Austin, don't ever leave me alone with her. I was trying to make small talk, but the girl was giving me nothing."

The two jumped at the sudden bang in response. It was like a person using their fist to strike the door. Austin dropped down and peered through the small crack at the bottom of the door. He lay down on his stomach with his two hands by his shoulders. He could see 2 bare feet. He smiled and looked up to Dez who returned his smile. Austin looked through the door crack again, the two feet remained planted into the carpet.

To reply to her, he moved one of his arms, slowly unsticking and unbending his arm as if afraid that a loud creak of the floorboards may scare her away. Smirking, he replied by knocking back a few times on the white wooden door. He watched as one of her feet took a step back, surprised. He grinned and rapped against the door a few more times.

Knock-knock-knock-knock-knock

He heard two claps in response. Wait, claps? He looked up once again at Dez who was smiling down at him with both of his hands together. He chuckled lowly; sometimes Dez was such a goofball, but in the best way.

"Dez, not you." He laughed. "Wait, I have an idea!" He pushed himself off of the floor and stood up. "Why don't we just talk through knocking and stuff?" He beamed brightly at his new idea. In retrospect, he knew that he shouldn't have been that excited about knocking on doors to someone who slammed a door in your face and doesn't even want to talk in the first place; but hey, it was something. And something was always better than anything, or was it nothing?

"Anyway, now we can talk to her, we'll just have to ask yes or no questions" He explained.

Dez's hand shot up and he waved it around in the air frantically while bouncing on his toes. He kind of looked like an overly eagar little kid, hoping to be picked on by the teacher to answer a question. Regardless of the fact that he was the only one raising his hand, Austin couldn't help but laugh at his best friends' quirky personality. He gestured to the redhead with a smile that only widened once he saw him doing an arm pump alongside a whispered 'yes'.

"Ooh, ooh, I know, I know. Thirty eight for yes, forty seven for no!" Although he tended to agree with most of Dez's ideas, he had to interject. What if he lost count?

"How about 1 for yes and 2 for no, Dez?" He offered instead.

"Where's the fun in that?" Dez pouted once more, upset by having his ideas rejected once again. Austin smiled weakly at him, and rubbed his arm in support before resting his hand on his friends' shoulder, without bending his arm. His best friend returned the favor by copying the blonds actions and placing an hand on the other's shoulders and happily sighed.

Oblivious to him was the girl listening behind the door with a dumbfounded expression at the two boys, well, more specifically the one who wanted her to knock on the door forty seven times as an answer for two lettered word.

Austin reluctantly neared the door. He didn't know why he was so nervous. "S-so, Ally, what do ya think?" He mentally scolded himself as he faltered over a word. He was supposed to seem calm, cool and collected, but instead here he was, stuttering like a nervous kid on the first day of school. He waited a few moments, holding in his breath as to not miss the sound of a single knock.

If only one came.

He was going to wait, just a few more seconds. Just... fifteen more seconds.

One one thousand...

Two one thousand...

Three one thousand...

Four one thousand...

Five one thousand...

Six one thousand...

Seven one thousand...

Eight one thousand...

Nine one thousand...

Ten one thousand...

Eleven one thousand...

Twelve one thousand...

Thirteen one thousand...

Fourteen one thousand...

Fifteen.

He dropped his head in defeat. She wasn't going to talk, and she definitely wasn't going to come out. Why would she? He turned and walked away, down the dark hallway, illuminated yellow by the sconces and swallowed by the dark flooring. He thought he could do it. He could've saved the princess from the dragon keeping her locked up in a tower. But that's what it was:

An unreachable tower.

* * *

She couldn't answer. He throat closed up and her body stilled. What was she thinking banging on the door like that? It was exactly those actions that would always get her in trouble. She was only allowed to speak when spoken to. That's how it was supposed to work. If she didn't, no one would like her. Why would they like her?

She wasn't like other people. She wasn't pretty. Her brown, dull, boring, lifeless hair fell just below her shoulders. Her scarred, flawed, and pasty skin. Her thin, bony, short and weak frame that looked like it could barely hold her up as it is. She's a hideous creature. That's what he told her. She can't help but hate everything she is. Why would they like her?

They don't really care about her. It's just a sick, twisted game they planned in their heads. She was better off on her own. She couldn't show vulnerability and expose herself to two strangers; she'd only get hurt in the end. It wasn't worth the chance of getting hurt later on. There were so many unknown mysteries and fears that came with meeting new people, and that was a risk she didn't want to take. She was safe in her room. People couldn't come in. It was only her. Why would they like her?

But, her mother looked so hopeful when she answered the door. And the two boys looked so genuine. She was right. It was only her. It wasn't him. He wasn't there, anymore. She solely raised her fist and positioned it in front of the hard, wooden, white door. She paused, not positive whether it was a good idea or not. There were risks and consequences involved, ones that she wasn't completely in control of, and unsure about. But she couldn't do it by herself.

And she gave a single knock.

* * *

He walked away, his sneaker soles brushing against the floorboards, uttering not a sound. And then he hears it. A single knock. Coming from the end of the hallway. Austin did a quick about-face and headed back towards the door in disbelief.

"What'd you say, Ally?" He asked the door, a cheerful grin on his face. He waited.

One one thousand...

Two one thousand...

Three one thousand...

Four one thousand...

Five one thousand...

Knock.

His smile widens and his heart starts to beat wildly in his chest. Albeit, she took some time to respond, but he could live with that.

Maybe that tower wasn't so unreachable after all.

* * *

"So," He drags, trying to find a question to start with. There still was the initial awkwardness of sitting and talking to a door, but it was worth it. Now that he actually has the chance to talk to her, he suddenly draws a blank. He turned around at his friend who was lounging around while sitting on the floor. Meeting his eyes, Austin shot a silent plea for help. Austin watched as Dez rested his chin on one of his fists, pouted and scrunched his eyebrows in thought, before whispering, "Ask if she likes Zaliens."

He grinned back in response. That was a great question; who didn't like Zaliens? "Do you like Zaliens?"

He waited in anticipation, praying for a one knock answer. After a few moment of waiting, he frowned. Was it something he said? Did she decide that she didn't want to talk anymore?

Or worse. "Do you know what Zaliens are?" He questioned meekly, not quite sure if he wanted to hear the answer.

The two held their breaths and leaned forward, simultaneously, waiting to hear a response. Two knocks proceeded. Dez gasped loudly and drew back with his hand over his heart. A forlorn expression crossed over the redheads' freckled face and he shook his head sadly, tut-tutting through his teeth. She was a lot cause in the world of Zaliens.

He continued to ask her a few more yes or no questions, with the help of Dez.

Do you play any sports? One one thousand... Two one thousand... Three one thousand... Four one thousand... Five one thousand... Two knocks.

Are you in high school? One one thousand... Two one thousand... Three one thousand... Four one thousand... Five... One knock.

Do you go to Marino? One one thousand... Two one thousand... Three one thousand... Four one... One knock.

Do you like school? One one thousand... Two one thousand... Three one thousand... One knock.

Do you have any brothers? One one thousand... Two... Two knocks.

Do you have any sisters? One one... Two knocks.

Did you ever break a bone? Two knocks.

Have you been out of Florida? One knock.

Do you like sunsets? One knock.

Do you like the beach? Two knocks.

Do you like going to the movies? One knock.

Do you like horror movies? Two knocks.

Do you dance? One knock.

Are you a good dancer? One one thousand... Two one thousand... Three one thousand... Four one thousand... Five one thousand... Six one thousand... One knock; but that one took a while for her to answer.

Have you ever tried to break a world record? Two knocks.

Can you spin plates? Two knocks.

Can you lick your elbow? Two knocks.

Can you do the splits? Two knocks.

After a few questions, Austin was slowly running out of ideas to ask her, he wasn't used to the pressure.

"Do... do...?" He turned around with a playful smirk on his face. "I just said do-do." He giggled alongside Dez. He didn't know what to ask her anymore. There were only so many yes-no questions he could ask to a door. There had to be some other way for him to actually have a conversation with her. He looked back at his friend once again, in times like these, sometimes he needed Dez's brain to help him think of ideas.

"What about s'mores code?" He offered with a wide grin, after a few moments of contemplation.

"Dez, that's-" Austin started, before pausing, himself, to think. "Amazing!" He beamed. Sometimes Dez could think of some pretty crazy ideas, but this idea seemed fool proof. Well, except for a few things. It was a-few-things-that-could-cause-some-problems-but-other-than-that fool proof.

"But does she know Morse code?" He asked. One knock. The two jumped, momentarily forgetting the girl on the other side of the door. Austin laughed quietly, not wanting to be too loud. She _definitely_ had sass. Although she seemed a bit timid and shy, maybe just a bit awkward, she still had that certain spark in her personality which seemed so rare. He couldn't quite place it, but he just knew that there was more than what she really let on.

He turned back to Dez after his laughing settled down. "Wait. Dez, you know Morse code?" He asked him, a bit bemused and a bit shocked that Dez actually knew it and didn't tell him.

"Of course, Austin. It's only the best type of sweet talking." At that, he received an unusual look from the blond. Austin wondered how Morse code could ever be considered 'sweet talking', but he knew better than to question Dez on that sort of stuff. It would most likely only lead to over complicating things, causing the explanation to jumble in his head as he tried to comprehend whatever Dez was saying, and it would just confuse him further. Dez looked at the white wooden door before turning his head and facing Austin with a relaxed smile on his face. "So, what do you want to say?"

"Can't I just talk and she can answer back?" He questioned. It seemed like a much easier way to do things.

"Austin, Austin Austin." Dez babied "Young, naïve Austin. You clearly don't understand s'mores code. Let the professions handle it."

He sighed. "Fine. Uh, ask her what she likes to do for fun."

Dez nodded, cracked his knuckles and with a determined look, he faced the wall. He tilted his head from side to side and neared the door. Austin couldn't help but roll his eyes and chuckle. Dez had his own way. Even though he could be a little theatrical, at least he had someone who knew what he was-

"Graham marshmallow graham marsh choco cracker marsh graham chocolaty marsh cracker choco mallow?"

-doing

Austin listened with eyes wide. He wanted to ask her what she liked to do, not what you put in a campfire treat! He grabbed his friends forearm and yanked him back. "Dez," he whined. "You said you knew Morse code!"

"No, I said s'mores code. C'mon Austin. Pay attention. Who knows Morse code anyway?"

Knock.

Austin clapped his hand over his mouth as he tried to hold in a laugh. Sometimes this girl was just too much. He watched as his friend pouted and put his hands on his hips and he spun to face the door

"Well nobody asked you." He told the door stubbornly while sticking out his tongue like a little kid.

Knock.

"No."

Knock.

"No."

Knock.

"N-"

Despite the immense amount of amusement Austin got, watching as Dez became a bit pink faced as he argued with Ally on the other side of the door, he knew that the best thing to do was to pull them apart -well, pull Dez away from the door, he wasn't exactly sure what he could to with the girl- before things got ugly. Dez harrumphed, frowned, crossed his arms over his chest and turned away from the door.

"Okay. So Morse code doesn't word. Why don't we try..." He looked around the small hallway, hoping for a hint or a clue of some sort. He was running out of ideas. There was only so much a two people could do when one of them didn't speak and there was no way to see each other or touch due to the large slab of wood that was separating them. His eyes landed on Dez's backpack.

_Okay, so what do most people carry around with them? Money, keys, sunglasses, cell phone._

"Cellphone!" exclaimed Austin.

His sour mood forgotten, Dez spun around on his heels, an animated and broad smile on his face as realization set in.

"Austin, if she had a dog in there, I can bring my dog. My dog can text her dog. Her dog can text her. She can text her dog. Her dog can text my dog. My dog can text me. I can text you. You can text me. I can text my dog. My dog can text her dog. Her dog can text her. She can text her dog. Her dog can text-"

"Dez, Dez, Dez." Austin laughed, trying to prevent the redhead from continuing. "Why don't we just text her?"

"It'd be weird if we are texting her in dog, Austin. Wait here. I'll go get him." He held up a single finger, before grabbing his backpack by the straps and taking off down the hall.

"Dez!" he tried to call out for him, but his friend had already turned the corner, prepared to go grab his canine. He looked back and forth between the end of the hallway and the white door, contemplating whether he should chase after Dez or just stay with her. Deciding to stay, he suddenly became a bit nervous. It was just him and her, now.

"So," he began, "do you have a cell phone?" He asked the door.

Two knocks.

He backed up against the white wood and slid down. His knees were brought up, halfway to his chest, his feet were separated and spread, he wrapped his arms around his knees and grabbed his wrist with one hand. He leaned his head against the wood and titled his head to the side.

"So. Do you have any ideas?" He inquired tiredly. There was no knock in return. The two stayed in comfortable silence. Austin rested his eyes, enjoying the quiet. It was different. But it was nice. He was never really able to enjoy the quietness. When he went to the beach, he could always hear the waves as they crashed onto the sand or children splashing and laughing and they ran about. In the mall, there were always people talking with each other, the rustle of shopping bags and cell phone beeps. The only time when it was quiet was at night, but even then, there was always the faint rustle of trees or crickets chirping. Here, it was soundless. And he liked it.

He didn't know how long he must've stayed, sitting there, leaning against the door, but it could've been long. The silence was broken by the soft creak of the floorboards coming from the inside of the room. He lazily opened his eyes and listened. He heard the soft padding of bare feet as they glided around the room. He heard a muddled clanging and the sound as things slid against each other. He could make out the footsteps returning, and eventually her sitting back down on the directly opposite side of the door. He heard the tear of paper and could just make out the sound of a faint scratching as she wrote.

He saw the edge of the white lined paper as it slid underneath the door crack. It was one simple word.

Hello.

He smiled. He was about to talk back through the door but thought better of it. He didn't want to disturb the peace.

"Can I borrow a pencil, Ally?" He whispered through the door. He listened to the gentle creak of floorboards and the padding of feet. He heard the clanking and the feet returning once again. Like a gumball machine, the pencil was rolled out from underneath the door. It was an old fashioned pencil, sharpened to the point. It was completely red and towards the golden metal piece at the end, which held a perfect eraser end, were the words 'Ally Dawson' written in golden script.

He took the piece of lined paper and a line underneath hers, he wrote back.

Hey. You have really nice handwriting :)

Looking at the two hard writings, his looked so much messier.

Hers reminded him of his mother's handwriting: orderly and neat. Her handwriting was small, not slanted and rounded. Her letters connected, almost like cursive like. The l's were thin and her 'o' was closed with a little tail at the end. His, however, resembled his father's handwriting: chicken scratch.

Thanks. And can you tell me what a "Zalien" is?

He laughed to himself.

It's a zombie-alien.

Ahh, okay...

* * *

The two continued to write back and forth. Ally enjoyed his company. It was different from her mother and fathers conversations'. They always walked on eggshells around her, warily glancing between them. It was forced and eventually died within a few moments. With Austin, the conversation flowed pretty easy. She actually felt somewhat comfortable talking, well, writing, with him. She learned that he was an only child, like her, even though he's convinced that he has a long lost brother due to the fact that there's someone famous who looks exactly like him. She also knows that his favorite color is orange, he's absolutely mental about pancakes, he likes going to the pizza parlor and the arcade, he likes The Galactic Adventures of the Electric Avengers, he had the chicken pox when he was nine, he wished to be stuck in a freezer full of ice cream and whenever he burps, he is worried there is an alien in his stomach trying to bust out.

Then it happened.

Your dad owns Sonic Boom, right? Do you like sing or play any instruments?

I can play the piano, and I sing and write songs. But I don't anymore.

But whyyyyy? You should! I bet you sing great and your music is amazing!

"You're a great singer, Ally."

"Your music is amazing, Ally."

She chastised herself, mentally. She wasn't going to think about him. She wasn't. She wasn't. She wasn't.

I couldn't ever do something with it. I'm not good anyway.

Awwww :( Don't way that. You're smart! I'm sure you'd be awesome.

"You're so smart, Ally."

He wasn't here anymore to tell her lies.

Don't say that.

Why not?

Just don't

C'mon Ally. It's true. Haven't your parents or boyfriend or whatever ever told you that?

Boyfriend.

Yes, he told her all those things.

She stood up from her original place by the doorframe.

_He told her when he thought she was getting a bit chubby on the edges. She couldn't go out looking like a mess in her apparel. Other people would definitely judge her if they saw the monstrosity she called a clothing ensemble. He always had to check what she looked like before she went out. He cared for her, making decisions for her so she didn't have to, giving her what she needed. He didn't want her to embarrass herself._

She ambled about her room, just running her fingers across the different surfaces. Memorizing their shape and texture. She felt the fabric of her comforter as it was draped over her mattress. She could feel the slight indentations and dips from the sewing, causing different outlines of shapes. Her foot hit one of the legs of the bed with a muffled thump. But she didn't flinch. She didn't feel a thing.

She thought she heard someone on the other side of the door, yelling her name. But the ringing in her ears quickly muffled it out.

_She shouldn't have talked back to him. Who was she to say anything about him? She shouldn't try to change him. That wasn't how relationships worked. She should've been more worried about not being such a bother. He always accepted her._

She could feel the smooth surface of her bedside table, painted; she couldn't feel the pores of the wood, but she felt a small bump where the paint overlaid or the faint roughness whenever she hit thin layer of dust. She reached the lamp with no light bulb. She felt the smoothed lamp base as she glided over the polished glass. She slid her hands over the rougher material of the lamp shade, she could feel as the fabric covered the wiring of the shade. Her knee hit the side of the table rather harshly, causing the lamp base to shake and the metal from the bulb-less lamp to clink together. But she didn't flinch. She didn't feel a thing.

Two different timbres joined the first, but they were all pushed to the back of her head.

_He didn't want her to see some of her friends and family. She was supposed to be a loyal and loving girlfriend; she wasn't supposed to go out. How could she take care of him if she was out? She always felt guilty after that. She was always a bit quiet, so what was the point of going out when they would monopolize the conversation? Plus, if her phone battery died, he would have no way of knowing where she was. He was worried and wanted to make sure that nothing happened to her. He decided she wasn't going to go out anymore unless he was with her._

She could feel the sleek and glossy coating of piano keys. She felt the sharp yet smoothed edges as they skipped from one to the next, running over the bumps of the black keys. The sheen keys were a strict contrast between it and the hard plastic. Compared to the creamy keys, the plastic almost felt sandy, with bumps that she could feel on her fingers. She skimmed her hands over the buttons and slides. Her arms moved towards the music stand, cold and metallic. With gaping holes and sharp turns and edges. Her foot caught on the leg of the music stand, and then on the electric keyboard. Her hip smashed against the keyboard and the silver music stand cut her thighs as they both came crashing down. But she didn't flinch. She didn't feel a thing.

She heard a pounding. Almost like the bass to a song that wasn't playing.

_At first, he used to lie to her, just to make her feel better. But she knew that lies only led to hurt. She needed to come back down to earth. And that included not sugarcoating herself. He must've already known that, because he told her exactly what she was. She was nothing; just a single person out of seven billion. She was nothing special. He gave her that reality check._

She moved towards the vanity that she never used. She lifted her hand up and traced the outline of the mirror. She felt the carve of the wood as it outlined the mirrors edges. She ran her fingers inwards towards the mirror. It felt... crystalline. Polished. Almost Metallic. Fragile. Breakable. She lifts her head, and looks at her reflection. A broken soul looks back at her, gazing hollowly back at herself. How she loathes this mirror. It reflects everything that she is. Everything that she's become. And everything she hates about herself. She detests the way it makes her feel. And she hates even more how it's telling the truth.

Because mirrors don't lie.

_So maybe he stayed out into the long hours of the night. But it was okay because she could always wait for him at home with a nice book as she waited for him to get home._

_And maybe he called her names that would cause her to run out of the room and cry. But it was okay because it was her who couldn't handle the joke._

_And maybe when people questioned their lifestyle, he would stretch the truth a little bit. But it was okay because he just didn't want them to break them up._

_And maybe he ripped and threw the book she was initially reading from her hands when she didn't answer loud or clear enough. But it was okay because he wanted to make sure that her voice was heard._

_And maybe he would grab her arm a little too tight. But it was okay because he wanted to make sure she stayed on the right path and didn't stray._

_And maybe he would slap her when he thought she was cheating on him. But it was okay because he was just being protective._

_And maybe he left cuts and bruises that branded her skin. But it was okay because he always patched them up later. Except when he didn't._

_And maybe he hurt her. But all of it was okay._

_Because he loved her._

She screamed and slammed her fists against the mirror, watching as it cracks and breaks into ribbons and cobwebs. It was shattered. Nothing more than jagged shards of crystal. Pieces were missing revealing the gray backside and her face was scattered. It's just as broken as she is.

Seeing the reflection of a broken girl in an equally broken mirror, she almost resembled something beautiful.

* * *

"Ally!" he yelled through the door. "Ally! What's going on? Open the door!"

He pressed his ear to the door, trying to distinguish what was happening on the other side of the door. He heard a muffled thump and heavy footsteps as she walked around the room. He rattled the knob frantically, frustrated to remember that it was locked. "Ally! Ally!" He yelled through the door. His attention was distracted as he heard 4 pairs of feet rushing down the hallway behind him. He turned around to face Mr. and Mrs. Dawson.

"What is it?" Mrs. Dawson asked, out of breath, her eyes were wide and frantic looking.

"It's Ally. She's not opening the door. I think she's throwing things or hitting them or someting" He explained. He turned his attention back to the door. "Ally!"

"Ally, sweetie, open the door." Her two parents cooed.

"Can you open the door?"

"Please, let your mother and me in."

"Say something, Ally. Say something."

They heard something loud as it rattled opposite the door. He watched as the two adults turned to him. "Austin, we're going to try to look for a key for the door. Just... keep on doing what you're doing."

He nodded, not looking at them, but he heard as the two turned and their footsteps getting softer the further they went.

He pressed his ear against the door. Nothing.

He started pounding against the door, still calling out her name. He continued to hit his fist against the door when he heard a large crash. He stopped al his previous movements and placed his ear against the door, once again. Nothing. No sound.

Austin jumped back from the door as he heard blood curdling scream along with the sound of shattering glass coming from the room. He raked his hands through his hair, slightly pulling at it and pacing back and forth trying to think of what to do.

There wasn't enough time to wait to see if Mr. or Mrs. Dawson could find the key. The only other option was to break down the door.

He knew that his onetime breaking a board wasn't enough to qualify him to break down a door, though. He surveyed the door. Good, it swung inwards. He raked is hands through his hair once again, and backed up a bit, just enough to get his leg up.

He placed his left foot firmly on the ground, lifted his leg and kicked, right next to the lock. He backed up, assessing his damage. The door began to splinter around the edges. A self satisfied smirk graced his face. He heard the sound of glass shattering once again. He kicked the door, once, twice, three, four more times. By then, his leg was aching like crazy, but he couldn't stop. He almost had it. With one forceful kick, he watched as the wood completely splintered around the locked door and the door was forced open.

He took a step into the room, he saw Ally. Her body was backed up against the wall next to a broken window, her entire body shook. She was grasping a shard of the broken window; blood coated her hand as she gripped the glass tighter. Austin held his hands up, trying to show a surrending pose and not scare the already terrified girl.

"Ally." He began. "It's me, Austin. Calm down." He tried to soothe her, taking a tentative step forward, always keeping his eyes on her.

"Get away from me!" She wailed. Her grip on the glass tightened and drops of blood began to flow down her arms and dripped on the carpet, dyeing it scarlet. She screamed hysterically, tears streamed down her face as she sobbed. He began quickly thinking about the best way to get her to drop the glass before walking towards her, taking hesitant steps forward. She screeched and pointed the sharpest end towards him, ready to use it as a weapon.

"C'mon, Ally. Drop the glass." He pleaded with her. He had no plan, truth be told. He never thought that a situation like this would ever happen. Right now, he was just hoping that he wouldn't be impaled. Before he could take another step, Ally lunged at him, shard aimed right at him. Her bare foot landed on a piece of the broken mirror, causing her to stumble as it slipped from underneath her. It slowed her down just a bit, but it gave him enough time to run around her body and press her back against his chest.

He seized both of her wrists with each hand and crossed them over her body, forcing her to drop the bloodied piece onto the carpeting. He felt as she struggled violently. Her nailed tried to dig into his flesh and she ended up elbowing him a few times in his ribcage. Sobs shook throughout her body, and he could feel the fear that was practically emanating from her body. He held on tighter, squeezing her close, calling out her name.

"Ally! C'mon Ally! You know me! It's okay. You're safe." Her red rimmed eyes were glassy and unresponsive, and tears still streamed down her pink cheeks.

"It's okay, Ally. I'm not going to hurt you. You're safe." He repeated. He watched as her eyes, which were once wide and filled with fear, were beginning to return to normal. Her sobbing ebbed away into small sniffles and she relaxed a bit in his arms.

"You're safe." He calmed her. She looked up at him, her eyes tired. She said nothing, but he knew what she was saying.

_I'm sorry._

"It's okay, Ally. It's okay." He murmured in her ear quietly. Her eyes drooped closed and she fully went limp in his arms, passing out. He began backing up from the broken glass with her still in his arms. Once he was an adequate distance away from anything sharp, he slowly began to lower himself down. He held her in his arms, listening to her even breathing. She seemed so calm and at peace at that moment. He didn't know how long he stayed with her, being calmed by the stead beat of her heart, but he turned around gently when he heard Mr. and Mrs. Dawson enter.

"Sorry about the door." He apologized

"It's fine." He handed the small girl from his arms into theirs. He watched as they carefully maneuvered her. Mr. Dawson cradled the girl bridal style in his arms and Mrs. Dawson headed for the bed. She ghosted her hand over the top, checking for extra glass before pulling back the covers and heading towards the walk-in bathroom, dodging the broken glass and turning on the light. He slowly came to his feet and stood in the center of the room awkwardly. He saw Ally's father place her on the bed and Ally's mother emerge with a first aid kit in her hands. She handed off the box to her husband before turning to him.

"Thank you, Austin. You have no idea how appreciative we are." She gave him a small smile that he returned, but he knew they were both sad and partially forced. Who would be able to smile anyways? She turned back towards the bed, where Mr. Dawson was picking small crystal shards out of her bloodied palm with tweezers and gloves, placing them aside. "But I think we can handle the rest. You can go home." She told him. He nodded, understandingly. Mrs. Dawson turned away from him and he watched as she also put on the other set of gloves, took a disinfectant wipe out of its packaging, and carefully began to wipe the soles of her daughters' feet.

He began heading towards the door, but stopped once he saw the edge of white paper. He looked behind him, but Ally's parents were too busy to notice that he hadn't left yet. He bent down, picked up the forgotten white lined paper full of the notes they shared, folded it up, and placed it in his back pocket.

He turned around and looked at the bed. He caught a glimpse of her face, and she looked so peaceful. Even though he knew that she wouldn't respond, he waved, a hopeful smile caressing his face, and walked out. He didn't want it to sound like a goodbye. It wasn't going to be a goodbye. He wasn't going to let it be.

_See ya later, Ally._

* * *

The beam of moonlight hit her closed eyelids. And she sat up, opening her eyes.

Slowly, but steadily, her eyes adjusted to her surroundings. She was in a bed, securely tucked in. It was her room. The desk and chair were opposite the bed. She saw the vanity with the mirror cracked and broken. She turned towards her once covered window, patched together with gray duct tape, allowing few streams of moonlight hit pieces of her furniture and walls. She scanned her room. And only then did she see her door.

The one thing that she used as a barrier to protect herself, was now broken.

* * *

This was actually written by my friend, "Red Compassion, Red Love, Red Hate" on the Austin & Ally Wiki... So... Go check them out. Red suggests you listen to either_ Dark Side _by Kelly Clarkson or _Demons_ by Imagine Dragons. Both songs are supposed to represent the conflicting emotions that Ally's feeling at the end of the chapter with everything that's going on. However, _Dark Side_ sets the scene for the next chapter.

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Every time you don't [review], a gay baby turns straight. Do it for the gaybies! - Matthew Lush


	3. Chapter 3

_She scanned her room. And only then did she see her door._

_The one thing that she used as a barrier to protect herself, was now broken._

* * *

She didn't know why she was doing this: walking down the streets of the Miami Mall Complex. Oh yeah, now she remembered. Her door was gone –after it was broken, her father unscrewed the hinges and completely moved the door away from its frame, talk about lack of privacy - and her parents forced her to get out of the house, refusing to leave her alone.

It was a fairly warm day. The number of customers differed depending on the area. The stores with air conditioning were usually crowded with people as they peaked in and out of the store, enjoying the cooled air. Those were the stores that normally held the best business during Miami's random heat flashes. Either that or the small restaurants that sold cool beverages. Other than the few cooled areas, the Miami Mall could almost be considered vacant, with everyone off at the beach.

She kept her head down, trying not to make any eye contact with anyone, as she shuffled through, past the stores. She knew the mall by now, and that included which sections of the mall to stay away from to avoid mall shoppers. She sees a person who gets a little too close to her. She looked up to see who would actually be heading down this usually empty passageway. What she didn't know was the new store that apparently just opened up that sold frozen yogurt and was air conditioned.

She looked at the crowd in front of her, a there were only a few people, but with the way that everyone moved about in the narrow area, she was bound to feel claustrophobic at least once. She covertly turned her head and looked over her shoulder to see if there was the possibility to go back and use a different route. Using her peripheral vision, she saw a few loud and rambunctious boys a few stores back, goofing off, jumping on each other and laughing wildly. No way was she going to try to dodge past them. She took a deep breath through her mouth as she set off in front of her.

She looked ahead, trying to keep her gaze on the white background with the orange explosion and bold black letters spelling out 'Sonic Boom'. It was only a small distance away. 200 feet. At most.

200 feet. She was nearing the crowd of people, only about one more store before she hits the skew of people.

175 feet. There are a few stragglers, most likely from other stores or heading somewhere, but they hang on the sides and are easily evadable.

150 feet. She braces herself. She can get through this, she has to. It's going to be something that she's going to have to face regularly now that her parents make her go out.

125 feet. She's in the crowd. She sees the different faces of people as she passes them and she reverts her attention back to the giant music sign attached to the stone building.

100 feet. A person comes just a bit too close for her liking, and effectively cutting off her pathway forward. Her steps falter a tiny bit and she slows down.

75 feet. She felt a person brush against her as they shouldered by, and she completely stops, starting to curl into her body. She hears a faint murmur of 'sorry'. She takes a breath, and continues to walk.

50 feet. Her steps waver slightly, but she's out of the crowd, and like before, there are only a few people scattered about.

25 feet. She's congratulating herself quietly inside of her head.

20 feet. She can hear as the rowdy boys are now at the crowd, and she shyly smiles. She definitely dodged a bullet, there.

15 feet. She is passing by the first umbrella table leading up to the store.

10 feet. She passes by a potted plant.

5 feet. She's almost there.

4 feet. Only a few more feet.

3 feet. She almost made it.

2 feet. Just one more step.

1 foot. She made it.

0 feet. And she never felt so proud.

As she pushes through the glass double doors, she lets out a sigh of relief. She made it past the crowd without a major freak out. It may have seen a bit weird to some other people with the way she stopped when someone came too close, by no one seemed to pay notice. She scans the store, and for once in a long time, she's relieved that the store has minimal air conditioning. Even though her father was originally against the idea of air conditioning, seeing as though central air cost a lot of money, he knew that he would get better business if he did.

In the end, the incentive of more business won over, but he always kept it on a low cool. But on this day, people were more interested in the stores that were in the mid 60s rather than low 70s. Either way, not wanting to take a chance, she walked up the set of metal stairs into the small practice room, she already knew that at least one of her parents was downstairs, most likely in the storage room, ready to help customers when needed. Taking a spot on one of the seats, she closed her eyes, and imagined the soft tune of violins playing in the background.

Oh, how she missed this. Even the isolation of her room could never replicate the enjoyable feeling of peace inside an empty music store. She didn't have to busy herself with retelling facts about a certain instrument to a customer, she could enjoy the silence. She closed her eyes. Even if the instruments remained mute, she could still hear their melody in her ears.

The rich fluctuation of strings, the sonorous double bass, orotund baritone and the vibrant trumpet. The woody clarinet, less edgy than the alto saxophone, but fuller than the breathy sounds of the silver flutes. She was able to distinguish each instrument from each other. She focused in, and she was able to hear the tinkling of the grand piano keys coming from the center of the room. She sighed and let the music surround her, letting all other sounds be pushed out. She could almost feel as the music staff wrapped around her waist, her legs, her arms. They twisted playfully in and out between her fingers. Note heads bumped on her skin clumsily, the stems dragged on her arms delicately and a few of the flags tickled her skin.

She allowed herself to get lost in the sound. She didn't know how long it was. She knew the music was sound in time, but right now, in her moment of complete and utter relaxation and peace, she had no concept of time. Sound was just there. And she loved it. She smiled before laughing quietly.

Her small laugh must have echoed off of the brass instruments and hard table tops, because the next thing she heard wasn't the heavy vibration of percussion, but the voice she heard only a day before.

"Hello?"

* * *

Austin stood outside of Sonic Boom, underneath the shade of the decorative palm tree. He pulled on a thread at the bottom of his t-shirt, before halting in place, releasing the thread, and smoothing his shirt back into place. He didn't know why he was so nervous. He never got nervous. Austin Moon didn't get nervous. But here he was, palms sweating, pulse quickening and nerves tingling.

He could see though the clear doors the multi colored violins, the large maple double bass with the polished finish, the brass baritones and the golden trumpets. He could see the black bodied with silver metal lined clarinets, the curved alto saxophones and the silver flutes with its dainty keys. Each instrument had its own place around the store. But the one thing that really caught his attention was the elegant grand piano, situated right in the center of the room.

He couldn't stop worrying over Ally from the day before. After he left the Dawson house, he was plagued with worried thoughts.

_Was she okay?_

_Is she okay?_

_Well, she was sleeping, so I guess she's going to be fine._

_Should I go back?_

_Can they deal with her alone?_

_Maybe they need someone else._

_What's going to happen now?_

_Will I ever be able to see her again?_

He just needed to calm down. No, he couldn't just "calm down". He had to know if she was alright. Which is exactly what brought him back to the music store. He had to ask Mr. or Mrs. Dawson if their daughter was alright. He bounced on his feet and shook his hands, trying to shake out his nerves. He took a deep breath and pushed through the double doors.

He stopped walking a few feet in. There was no one in the store. He looked back at the double doors and realization finally came to him. The words "CLOSED" were looking right back at him, in bold orange letters. He smiled sheepishly before walking back out.

Wait.

He turned back around and the words "OPEN" faced him. He smiled giddily, and his face flushed pink. He ruffled up his hair and stepped back inside. Either way, the emptiness of the store didn't change from the ten seconds it took him to walk in, walk out, and walk right back in. He looked around; no one was in the store either way. He considered walking back out, but decided against it. He already entered twice. There was no way he was going to exit the store again, the people who might've seen him probably already thought he was crazy.

He began slowly walking around the room, around the tables and behind the giant sousaphone. He couldn't find anyone. He was about to consider his efforts fruitless before he heard a small laugh coming from up above his head. He looked up, and saw an open door on the upper level. He climbed the stairs, trying to stay quiet, not wanted to spook whoever laughed.

At the top of the stairs, not daring to take a step further, worried that upstairs was a bit forbidden, he called out.

"Hello?"

He listened for any time of movement coming from the open room. "Is anyone here?" He asked again. He waited by the edge of the steps. He heard the faint sound of leather crinkling and soft steps coming closer.

Seeing the petite girl looking back at him suddenly made him nervous, as if he was caught doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing. He smiled at the girl who looked at him inquisitively. She headed towards him and gestured down the stairs. He nodded and raced down the stairs, skipping the last couple of steps on the bottom. At the bottom, he looked up at her and noticed she was only a few steps down, but with a fond smile as she looked down at him, cheekily.

When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she didn't say anything, but it was okay. By now, he probably mastered how to communicate with her without talking. And right now, by her facial expression, she was saying: _What are you doing?_

He looked around, trying to find an answer, as the words he was about to say slipped right out of his mouth.

"I was, uh, erm, I wanted to buy, uh, this!" He randomly pointed at a large black box with a large metal pole sticking vertically from the right side and another metal loop-ish thing sticking out horizontally from the other side. It almost resembled a radio with the silver nozzles sticking out. "This-this..." he head the label situated in front of the instrument. "Theremin?"

She looked at him, with raised eyebrow, incredulous, as if to question his ability to play a Theremin and he nodded. She shook her head, still doubtful, placed it on the table, and turned it on. He stared at the object, questionably before looking back at her. She had her arms crossed over her chest, her hip popped out and a smug smirk on her face. He looked back at the Theremin, uncertain how to actually play the thing. Unsure on what to do, he thrust his hand in the center of the thing, expecting to find some sort of invisible string attached to the two metal pieces that he could start plucking at.

What he didn't expect was for an eerie screech to come out of it. He jumped and jerked his hand backwards, cradling it next to his body. He tentatively placed his hand back in the center of the object, not touching the metal pole. He waved his hand around and listened as an unearthly sound was emitted from the instrument. He tried to hold back a grimace from the shrill sound of the Theremin. He looked back at the girl, who hadn't even looked like she flinched.

She met his gaze and he nodded. "Uh, yeah. This one sounds...good."

She rolled her eyes at him, before taking the Theremin off of the table and bringing it to the front counter. He watched her fluid motions, as she typed away on the register keys. She turned the small screen to face him and his eyes nearly bugged right out of his skull.

_$450.00_

"_What?_" He squeaked as he looked, astonished, by the price of such a mediocre sounding instrument. Deciding that 450 dollars wasn't worth it, he conceded.

"Well, I didn't come in here to buy a Theremin." He admitted, lowering his head, and picking the loose thread on the bottom of his shirt, twirling it around on his pointer finger in order to evade her stare. "I was just really worried about you and I wanted to see how you were doing." He blushed and snapped the thin thread off of his t-shirt. With nothing to capture his attention, he reverted his gaze back towards the petite girl behind the counter. She gave him a look, with a sly smile and a raised eyebrow, nodding her head as if to say, _I know._

He watched as she grabbed the bottom of the instrument and turned away. He stayed put, bouncing on his heels once again, he took in few deep breaths, preparing, as he saw her placing the Theremin in its original place with a great deal of care. As she began heading back, he stopped bouncing in place and cracked his knuckles underneath the counter, where she couldn't see. As she stopped on the opposite side of the counter once again, he exhaled one last time.

"Listen, Ally. I don't know what he did to you- no I mean, I guess I kinda know. No, not that, I um, erm, I mean – I know that something must've happened- you don't, you don't need to tell me if you don't want to or anything because that's, like, your stuff and-and stuff, so I don't – you don't have to tell me if you don't want to and stuff. But, but I, um, I need you to listen to me right now, 'cause it's really important. Well, I, um, I just wanted to tell you that you're really smart, Ally. Like, really smart. And uh, you're not just smart, ya know that? You're kind and caring and funny and sweet, and uh, and a bit sassy, -ya know because you don't like, you don't really let people boss you around and stuff, I mean, it must kinda suck then if you have work here, I mean, not here because- you must think- no, I mean, I think that it's pretty great that you work here 'cause it's pretty awesome- but uh, I think that you're fun to talk to and-and-and-"

He suddenly felt a timid hand over his. He looked down and saw her thin hand lying delicately over his, most likely in order to cease his incoherent babbling.

"Thank you." He heard her whisper. It was faint, almost hard to hear, but with the silence from the store and his attention focused on her, and only her, he was able to hear what she said, nice and clear. And it was beautiful. Fluid and melodic. By the feathery wisp of her voice, he could assume she was soft spoken, whether it was normal or a learned habit, he doesn't know.

The day before, pumped up with adrenaline, he didn't notice the little details. But now, he was able to realize how unnaturally thin she really was. Her hands were cold and chapped despite the warm Miami summer air. Her fingers were gaunt and he could see the bones on the back of her hand as her palms rested on his hand. He could feel the Band-Aids on palms on her hand and how they wrapped around her finger. He looked up to where their hands were clasped and looked into her eyes. She stared right back at his, dissuaded.

He was able to see the sadness and fear that he embedded into her soul; the insecurities and the self doubt that lurked beneath her feet. But he also able to see the joy and playfulness that made her eyes light up and sparkle as he looked into them.

He felt the small loss of weight on his two hands and her eyes cast downwards, as if suddenly embarrassed by the intimate contact. He slowly retracted his hands, awkwardly off of the counter where they were resting. Her hands were clasped together on top of the counter, close to her body. He scratched the back of his neck.

"So, uh, you wanna go get something to eat?" He offered, hoping that she would accept.

"I'm not very hungry." She told him, and his smile just dropped at the rejection. Albeit, it wasn't a complete refusal, but it still hurt.

He searched his mind for another thing to offer. He didn't want to ask her to go to a store, seeing as though it was unlikely that she would leave her workplace to have fun. And he shouldn't ask her to a place outside of the Miami Mall, seeing as though that was much too big of a stretch.

"How 'bout Mini's? The serving sizes are a lot smaller, and you could take home whatever you don't eat. I don't think you'll have extras though." He told her. He gave her a shy smile, hoping to look a bit less intimidating and maybe not so eager. He waited as she thought about it, and when he saw her head nod, it took a lot of his self control from preventing himself from fist pumping and yelling out. He saw her mouth move, and he assumed she said 'okay', but at the moment, his thoughts were too occupied with places they should go, things to do together, people for her to meet, sights for her to see. Of course, on the way to Mini's. There was nothing wrong with a little detour. Preferably around the whole mall.

She looks back to the side of the store. He follows her gaze and sees an open door, one that he must've missed when he came in the first time. He notices that Ally is looking at him once again, and he watches as her eyes dart to the room, and he nods an okay. He knows that she's not going to leave him alone in the store. He trusts her not to do that. He watches as she starts to head to the back door. He waits until she's a few feet away before turning around, leaning his back against the table top, and grinning like an idiot.

* * *

Penny wiped her brow with the back of her hand. It's times like these, when she's unpacking the latest shipment of tubas, is when she starts to hate that she even has to work, let alone unpack large metal instruments in a stuffy room in the back. Unaware of the soft footsteps as they near her while she moves boxes, she jumps when she feels a hand tapping her shoulder. The box she was holding flies out of her hands and styrofoam packing peanuts spill out from over the top.

She faced her young daughter who wears a shocked, yet partially amused, expression on her face. Ally's eyes are wide, but the corners of her mouth are upturned ever so slightly. The white packing peanuts litter the room, and Penny can't help but smile and laugh.

"Well, on a hot day like today, I guess a little snow isn't so bad." She jokes, as she looks around the room once again. She faced her daughter who was also shyly grinning. "What is it, sweetie?"

"Austin and I are going to Mini's?" She said, unsurely, glancing up at her while playing with the ends of her hair.

Penny stuck her head out and looked through the open door. She saw the blond haired boy as he waited patiently for her daughter to emerge from the room. She smiled fondly, and turned back to her young daughter who was looking down at her shoes. A chunk of her hair was wrapped around her finger, and pressed against her lips, but she didn't gnaw at it. Ally broke her bad habit of biting her hair after a comment from the hair dresser. "Of course, honey. You can go, don't worry. I can take care of-" She signaled to the room "-this."

Ally looked back up, only to see a loving smile looking back at her. She felt shoulders on her hands, gentle and light, as Penny guides her out of the room and towards Austin. She watches as Ally gives her a small smile and starts heading towards him on her own. A sigh escapes her lips and she can't help but grin. Her baby girl was growing up.

And not only that, but she was talking to other people, and actually going places with her friends. She and Lester had been trying for at least a month to have Ally eat a healthy diet, but nothing worked. The control that she desires slides through her frail fingers. They watched as their little girl got even smaller as she starved herself. They've tried to force feed her, but it only lead to screaming, tears, and Ally locking herself away as she regressed deeper into herself. She rarely came out of her room for meals, and when she actually did, she only picked at the food on her plate until it was cold and eventually excused herself from the table.

Now, it only took one boy to turn it all around to make her seem alive.

She peaked around the door to see Austin spinning around to face Ally, beaming. As she reached him, he bent down a bit to her level. The two were talking too softly for her to hear, but Penny sees the slight nod of her daughters head, and a bright smile to light up the boys face. He jogs over to the door, and waited for Ally to come, like an overeager puppy. When she comes closer, he opens the door wide and she tucks a lock of hair behind her ear. She observes as a pink blush reaches the apples of his cheeks and the tips of his ears as he continues to hold open the door and smile while she walks past him.

Penny watches as Austin follows right behind Ally, their steps stay in sync with one another, unaware of everything around him except for the petite girl next to him.

* * *

"So, uh, Ally? How've you been?" He asked her, in attempts at starting a conversation. There were a lot of times when he liked the silence and serenity it came with. However, the: we're-not-going-to-talk-while-walking-even-though-we're-going-to-get-something-to-eat-together silence is just plain awkward.

He looks down. He is already pretty tall for his age, and he almost towers over her; her thin frame only adds to it. But what she lacks in height, she makes up in speed. Despite his longer legs, she takes graceful steps that cause her to almost float past him. He bounces along to keep along with her.

A moment passes by before she nodded her head. He saw her mouth out the word 'fine' but the low murmur carries it off into the wind.

"Well, uh, um..." He trails off, only to see that her attention is captivated elsewhere. It's the store they are walking past. He peers over her head and through the window to see a matching set of two red funky chairs. The two chairs are tilted slightly back. The chair itself id curved to mold against the body and underneath it, holding it above ground is an object that looks like a cone with the top cut off. In one chair holds a small, decorative, shiny and dark pink amplifier, and the other holds another one identical to the first, but in a dark navy blue.

He was about to go suggest that they go in and look around, it could be nice to see what she's interested in and what kind of things she likes, but he didn't get a chance, as she had already floated away, ahead of him.

This occurrence continued for a few more shops, and in that time he saw some circular rugs, a white desk, some black and white Florida-native word art posters, and a giant pickle. There were times he wouldn't even be able to get a comment out about stopping to head inside and look around before she was gliding along air. They were still a long ways from the center of the mall where Minis was situated; part of it being his fault, as he would take turns and loops, just to extend their time together. Following the lead of the brown haired girl, he'd taken up looking at windows.

Nothing in the window displays looked too entertaining until a giant light up "A" in one of the stores captured his interest. He halted in place to get closer, and he saw as Ally, surprised by the sudden stop, also come to a standstill and follow him to the clear windows. Austin beamed, a smile that rivaled the neon yellow A. He turned to Ally who stood next to him. "What do you think?" He asked her.

"It looks..." She paused, as if thinking for the correct word to describe the 4 foot nightlight. "Ostentatious." She finished.

"Well of course it's 'Austin-tatious'. It's an A for Austin Moon." He told her. She raised a single eyebrow and placed a hand on her hip. "And Ally." He added meekly, shrugging his shoulders.

"That's not what ostentatious means" She laughed, rolling her eyes at his ridiculous interpretation. Regardless of whether her laugh was supposed to be a joke on his intellect or not, it was the first time he really heard her laugh. And it was beautiful. Maybe it was something that came with working at a music store and being surrounded by instruments and sounds all day long. It was almost like she had absorbed the sounds from those instruments; and right now, he could hear the tinkling of the triangle and the xylophone.

"What does it mean, then?" He asked her. Not waiting for a response he continued. "It means awesome, doesn't it?"

"Characterized or given to pretentious or conspicuous show in an attempt to impress others." She replied off of the top of her head, still looking at the A. Not hearing a response after a few moments time, she returned her attention from the yellow light up sign to the blond haired boy. He gave her a confused look only for her to roll her eye and chuckle lowly under her breath.

"Designed to impress or attract notice. Claiming to be overly important. Flashy. Showy. Loud. Etcetera." She explained in simpler terms.

"Oh." He said shortly, before beginning to change directions and walk away. She grabbed his forearm to prevent him from walking away, her hands barely reached halfway, but she held a strong grip.

"Hey." She consoled him quietly as the wind carried her voice only to make it seem more free-flowing. "I never said I didn't like it." She could feel a bout of heat rising to her cheeks, as she smiled up at him shyly through her lashes, only to see another smile being returned.

* * *

Turning a corner down a deserted quarter of the mall, at the sound of beeps, whistles, make believe car tire screeches and space ship blasts, Austin's head shot up. Ally looked up from the red brick to see the words "ARCADE" in large bolded Impact font located right above the open door which cool air was released. Remembering their note conversation from the day before, she knew how the arcade was one of Austin's favorite places; she motioned to the store and his face lit up light the lasers that could be seen shooting around into the dark room.

He brought her in, and she was immediately surrounded by cool central air. She sighed in relief, thankful that not many people were in the arcade in the first place. He took her hand in his and looked at her, she nodded and smiled, reassuring him of his action before being pulled throughout the room, informed of almost all of the games and how 'cool' or 'awesome' they were. She, surprisingly, recognized a few of them like "Pac-Man", "Frogger", and "Galaga", but other than that, the only way she could describe the arcade games was either 'awesome' or 'boring'.

Austin stopped in front of one of the machines with the words "POWER DRIFT" labeled on the side in orange comic letters. On the screen was a picture of a blue car as it raced around the track.

"This one is older than the other games, so not a lot of people play it, but I like this one the best." He told her. She studied the machine on closer inspection and she was able to see the prominent difference between it and the others. The Power Drift game outlining is faded from the years and she could see the bulky screen pixels, while the others had a glossy coat protecting the color from fading and a rich HD resolution.

"Because a lot of people don't use it, to prevent it from being unplugged and sold or trashed, the owner just doubles the amount of tickets that's dispensed." He explained to her. She looked back at him inquisitively, wondering why more people didn't spend their money on the machine. He looked both ways, dripped his head down and lowered his voice, as if paranoid that someone may be listening right around the corner. "He told me because I'm a good customer, and I play this one a lot; but I don't think a lot of other people know." He whispered in her ear.

He looked at the game. "You wanna play?" He asked her. She looked at the game, it didn't look too difficult. She could probably do this. She nodded her head. Austin smiled and pulled a quarter out of his back pocket. He side stepped, allowing her to come closer to the wheel. When he pressed the Start button, the game came to life. It was no longer a constant repetition of a fake person racing on the track, it was actually her.

Her figuring was placed on a figure eight track along with eleven other "racers". A large red and white start banner and stop light began counting down. She didn't expect for the car to move so quickly. She quickly jerked the steering wheel to the left to turn, but she was easily thrown off of the course, into the digital sand and she ran through a virtual palm tree. She began to steer the wheel with spasmodic motions as she was quickly placed from fourth place to twelfth in a matter of sections.

She could feel as Austin came closer to her as he also watched her play. "Hey, hey, hey. Calm down. The key to this game is only moving the wheel a little bit. It's really sensitive, so you don't have to make big turns." He advised her. She relaxed her grip on the play wheel and let the artificial racer do its work, taking his advice and only turning the wheel slightly. By her third lap she was already in fifth place, now knowing the trick to excelling at it. She saw two other of the mini racers took first and second place, and she was able to bypass a green car to claim third place. She jumped up and down, clapping her hands at her accomplishment before seeing the amused look on the blonds face. She stopped and looked at the dark floor with multi colored neon scribbles, and played with the ends of her hair.

"You're doing great." He complimented her, and she smiled before returning her attention to the screen. The second track was a lot more difficult, seeing as though it was shaped a bit like a bobby pin, making it much harder to get the turns in without hitting the sides or going off course. In the end, she came in sixth place. At first, she felt a little sad, seeing as though her racing career ended so soon, but she was easily recompensed when she say the array of orange tickets that was released from the machine slot. She smiled widely at Austin, who chuckled back at her.

She placed a hand on his back and guided him to the driving game. "I want to see you play." She said to him. He shrugged before placing in another quarter and placing both hands on the wheel. To say he was good was an understatement. Each level he passed almost flawlessly coming in the top 3 every time, with only a few bumps in the road. She watched in awe as he passed all five race courses, beat the Extra Stage lap, where the racecar had transformed into an airplane and an abundance of tickets were expelled from the arcade game.

"Whoa!" She told him, smiled widely as tickets continued to fall out of the machine, by then, a large pile had gathered at his feet.

"Like I said, I've played this a lot." He joked. "So, you wanna play some other games?" He asked her. His rumbling stomach made him more than aware about their plans to grab something to eat, but she seemed so excited at the moment. She gave him a toothy smile as an answer and the two moved off to another game.

The two played for another half hour, going from game to game. She tried all kinds of arcade games, from racing games, to zombie games (which she tried once but walked away within the first ten seconds), to space games, to wrestling games (which ended like the zombie games), to luck games, to competing games, to the classic games, to even games like solitaire (which she loved but Austin went to a basketball game). After Austin paid for her first game, they decided to split, and in total used about twenty dollars worth of games. Even though she knew she shouldn't have been so careless with her money, she really couldn't care less. She was having so much fun playing with Austin as they flitted from game to game, occasionally competing against each other.

It had been a long time since she had so much fun. During their time playing in the arcade, she wasn't worrying about how she looked or what she did, she let her inhibitions go and just relaxed. She felt so carefree and relaxed and so... alive. There was no other way to put it. She felt alive. There were times when she lost against Austin, but there were also times when she surprised him and actually won. They were normally the chance games and one time on Pacman, but either way, whether she won or lost, it was just entertaining and amusing just to be there, as long as Austin was there to enjoy the fun with her.

* * *

After they were both worn and had tried almost every game at least once, after feeding the chain of tickets they had acquired, the total number of tickets they had won was an astounding 885 tickets. They brought their ticket over to the prize booth where a man stood.

"Hiya, Austin. Who's your lady friend?" The cheerful man asked. He looked older, in about his seventies, but he was one of those friendly older gentleman's. The ones with laugh line wrinkles, rosy cheeks and a wide smile.

"Oh, Mr. Wilson, this is Ally. Ally, this is Mr. Wilson" He introduced her. She nodded her head in greeting. As Austin looked through the lit up case, the man leaned forward, over the case. "I'm happy that Austin finally has a lady like you. You two look good together." He complimented her with a soft smile. She blushed, but didn't say anything, worried incomprehensible jabber would leave her mouth. She played with the tips of her hair as she also looked at the trifles, one butterfly temporary tattoo held her gaze for a second longer than the other before she neared Austin. The prizes were kind of crummy; glow in the dark slime, plastic silver rings with obnoxiously large fake gems, sticky hands, jacks, bouncy balls, and all other kinds of small trinkets. All of them were only a few tickets each, but at the very end of the thick glass case Austin spotted a medium sized, gray and white stuffed dolphin.

It had cute black button eyes and a black thread that represented the mouth. From his angle, looking back at him through the glass, the mouth almost looked like the dolphin was smiling back. It had a cute dorsal fin on the top of its back, two flippers on either side, and a tail fluke. It was official. He wanted that dolphin.

He felt a presence by him and he saw Ally also admiring the stuffed animal, with an equally radiant smile and a sparkle in her eyes. He saw a pair of tan khakis behind the clear box and he straightened up and showed him the single ticket which showed the number of total tickets they had from the games.

"We have 885 tickets. How much is the dolphin?" Austin asked. He knew that it was futile to ask, when he already knew that the prize was most likely going to be a thousand tickets worth. He watched as the older man looked at him, and then at Ally who was still cooing at the dolphin, before smiling tenderly.

"880 tickets." Mr. Wilson told him. Austin smiled brightly, knowing that the older man purposefully lowered the price. He excitedly handed over the slip of paper to Mr. Wilson and viewed as the glass case was unlocked and the plush was removed from underneath the spotlight. The dolphin was given to Austin and he hugged the dolphin tight against him. The soft fur squished against his cheeks.

As he cuddled the soft toy against him, he saw as Ally was looking at him, with a kind smile. He contemplated whether he should keep the dolphin to add to his stuffed animal- uh, action figures- or give it to her. Looking down into her wide and joyful eyes, he looks at the dolphin one last time. He really wanted that dolphin. It was cute and small and fluffy, but he just couldn't do it. He wanted that spark to stay in her eyes even more.

He reluctantly gave her the dolphin, telling her that she could have it. He was expecting to feel more depressed at the loss of the fuzzy animal, but looking down at her delighted smile, it didn't bother him at all.

He was taken out of his blissful trance when he heard Mr. Wilsons voice behind him. "So, what'd ya wanna do with the other five tickets?"

Oh yeah. He had actually forgotten that there was another five tickets he was able to use. He inspected the prize booth. The only thing that could be won with his left over five tickets was a temporary tattoo. He pointed to the basket filled with white sealed paper. He ruffled through them, but only finding tattoos of flowers or butterflies or rainbows or hearts. Seeing as though this was probably more suited to Ally's sense of style, he called her over asking her to pick one.

She riffled through the stacks of temporary tattoos, he noted over her shoulder that the tattoos she pondered over the longest were the butterfly tattoos. He saw a monarch, a purple one with an orange border and orange spots, and a tan, yellow and brown one but with its bottom wings all curvy.

"I like this one." He pointed over her shoulder to the tan and brown butterfly tattoo.

"It's called a gold drop helicopis." She informed him. On closer inspection, he saw that it had brown forewing tips, golden bottom wings with hints of silver and multiple curved tails on the bottom wings. It seemed almost dull and plain compared to the other brightly colored butterflies. But once he actually was able to get a closer look, he saw the rarity of it. How the gold and metallic colorings and unique shape almost made it look like a piece of his mothers' jewelry; the ones that she always kept close and treasured.

* * *

Soon enough, the two were out of the store and off to Mini's after hearing Austin's gurgling stomach. They said thank you and goodbye to Mr. Wilson before exiting with a gold drop butterfly temporary tattoo and plush grey and white dolphin in tow.

Reaching Mini's Ally sat down on one of the neon chairs, reserving their spot. He grabbed a few dollar bills from his back pocket, and asked what she wanted.

"Can I have a small burger with extra pickles and water?" She asked him quietly.

"Oh, it'll be small all right." He told her but turned around before she was able to question him on his comment. As she waited for her food to arrive, she started to play with the fins of the stuffed sea critter that Austin gave her. She saw how much he wanted it, but he still gave it to her. He seemed really sweet natured and caring. She continued to pet the back of the dolphin, enjoying the softness of it.

She moved the dolphin off of the table onto her lap (she wasn't going to put it on the ground, that'd be grotesque), when she heard Austin announcing his arrival with food. When he set their tray down, she saw three burgers about an inch in diameter and a centimeter tall on one plate. On another plate, she could see five tacos, leaning on the side with what seemed to be ground beef, lettuce and tomato in the hard corn shell. There were ten tiny cups with a plastic lid and a straw and four red boxes containing what looked to be fries of equal size to the rest of food in them in the middle of the tray. They almost looked fake, like the little burgers and tacos and drinks that young girls' doll house food looks like.

Her eyes widened. When he said Mini's, he wasn't kidding. The large-well, normal sized- plates and napkins made the food look that much smaller.

"I know what you're thinking, but they're actually really tasty." He reassured her. She pointed at the cups, unsure about which ones were hers or his.

"Oh, they're all water. You get about three or four sips out of them, so, if you're thirsty again, just take one. She nodded before taking a burger off of their plate.

The two took a comfortable time eating, only stopping to talk about the arcade, which ones she liked and which ones were easy and which ones she wants to play again. Power Drift was easily one of the ones she had to try again, especially since she now knew the trick.

The burgers were surprisingly filling. She knew after not eating as recommended for the past while, her stomach wouldn't be able to hold much food in the first place, but the mini burgers were just right, she even took one of the small box of fries and munched on that.

As they came close to finishing, she grabbed one of the cups, removing the lid and straw. She took one of the napkins and dripped an end into the open cup, effectively soaking up some of the water. Placing the wet napkin off to the side, onto her plate, she fished out something from her pockets. Reaching what she was looking for, Ally took out the white paper square, her butterfly tattoo. She peeled off the clear film, and placed her butterfly on the inside of her left wrist, adjusting it so it was straight and the antennas were facing her fingers. She grabbed the napkin and placed the wet side onto the paper. She blotted the damp napkin around it, pressing down gently. When her napkin became too dry or ineffective, Ally redipped it into the open cup of water rewetting it to complete her tattoo. After a few times of dabbing, she removed the napkin and checked to make sure that the tattoo paper was dampened all over before slowly sliding off the paper. In its wake lay the gold, silver and metallic butterfly.

Her face pinkened when she realized she had a single person audience, watching her as she put on her temporary tattoo.

"Why did you want a butterfly?" He asked her. She flushed even more pink at her question.

"Oh, my first song was about a butterfly. I really wanted to become a song writer after that." She told him bashfully.

"You right songs?" He asked her animatedly, sitting on the edge of his seat.

"Not anymore." She told him shortly. She was hesitant to start talking about it. Even in the comfort of his presence and the warmth of the sun on her body, it was still a sensitive subject.

"Listen, Ally." He started. He remembered all too well where it was heading, but he had to try. She was no longer shying away from small contact with other people and was actually talking past the standard yes or no. "I know that something happened..." She broke his eye contact. "...with you and your boyfriend or your ex boyfriend..." Her palms became clammy as her temperature rose. "...and it doesn't seem like it ended well..." She really wanted to chew on her hair right about now. "...and maybe something really bad happened with him..." His words became muddled. "...and maybe he did something..." Her vision began to blur. "...but he shouldn't have done that..." No, no, no. Not here. Not in public. "...because..." She couldn't stay any longer. She had to go. She had to leave. She had to escape.

She stood up quickly, the chair legs squeaking as they slid across the floor and the dolphin now on the ground, forgotten. She felt a firm hand on her wrist and she tried to yank her arm out of its grasp as if the touch itself scorched her flesh. Escape. Escape. Escape. Adrenaline pumped through her veins. It wasn't fight. It was flight. She felt like crying. But she couldn't see. The rest of the world was shadowed and fuzzy around the edges. She couldn't hear. Everything was muted and jumbled in her head. She couldn't speak. Her throat felt tight and her airway felt swollen as she tried to take deep breaths.

The grip loosened, but she was still able to feel the hand around her small wrist as it pulled her back and into a sitting position. The hand released its grip on her wrist, but a heavy but gentle weight was placed over her two hands. She felt a small tingle as warmth dispersed throughout her hands. She looked down at the source of warmth, seeing another pair of hands covering hers, copying what she did with him while in Sonic Boom. The pair of hands over hers was acting as a lens, clearing and brightening her eyesight.

Her tunnel vision effect began to widen the world around her. Their hands were on a tangerine orange, rounded table. They were sitting in two chairs opposite each other. She could see the stand up sign for glow in the dark laser tag on her left side. She saw a small stage and surfboards propped up on a stand to the right. She saw the entryway where people entered in an out. She saw the palm trees and flowers that were strategically placed to provide shade and still look beautiful. She saw small puffs of clouds grazing in the blue sky.

"Ally, it's me. You're safe." Words and sounds were re-articulated and she looked up, focusing the person who talked.

Her eyes followed the hands, two pairs of arms, slightly tanned and strong forearms. She saw two short sleeves, gray with brick red stripes that covered two broad shoulders. She moved up and saw a thin silver chain, most likely holding a necklace. She saw pink lips and a nose, and then she saw two brown eyes, meeting her gaze, looking worriedly at her. She knew those eyes.

"What did he do?" Austin asked her, whispering.

"He hurt me." She whispered back.

He stood up, coming around to the back of her chair. He placed a careful hold on her upper arms and nudged her into a standing position. As she stood up gradually, he bent down, still keeping one hand on her, and picked up the stuffed dolphin. He wrapped his arm around her back, and she huddled into his body. She shivered and shook, he tightened his grip slightly, bringing her closer to him, and she clings onto him, reveling in the body heat he emits. Her senses are still on overdrive and the cuts on her hands start to throb just a little bit, but she ignores it. She had a protector.

"Here, let's go back to Sonic Boom." He tells her, and heads back to the music store while she snuggles the dolphin with her left hand, the golden butterfly pressing firm up against it.

* * *

Austin, not wanting to cause any other problems brings her through the back parts of the mall, where it's unlikely for people to be around, hence no interruptions. As they enter the store, Austin brings her up the stairs to the room to where he first found her in hopes for some privacy. She had stopped shaking, but he didn't want to take a chance. Opening the door, he tries not to grimace at the blandness of it.

The walls were a yellow beige coloring. He saw one two person couch and seat. The armrests were a dark cherry wood, the back was black leather with tic-tac-toe stitching, the seat cushions were a deep purple. The couch held the bottom half of a matte black music stand, whereas the other seat was cleared off and empty. He lead her to the empty chair and allowed her to sit down.

There was a large black chest sitting in the middle of the floor, decorated with stickers, and acted as a table. Most of the light was filtering in through the tall windows space, however there were two lights that hung above from the ceiling. The windows were covered with two giant keyboards, cases of music instruments of various shapes and sizes, two white stands that he normally saw in tourist shops holding post cards, and other stuff he didn't even know what it was, as it was packed away in boxes. Some of the boxes seemed empty, but just tossed on top of the pile to make the windows hard to reach.

_Or hard to break._ He thought silently. Instead of voicing that, he asked her show she was doing and received a nod in return. She looked much better, a healthy flush returning to her cheeks and her eyes seemed much more alive.

He saw a blue rolling chair tucked in between two small, tan, metal filing cabinets with a piece of wood on top of it, doubling as a desk with a computer, keyboard, manila folders, cordless phone and lamp resting on top of it. Above the desk was a bulletin board holding sticky notes and other pieces of paper tacked onto it. Another lamp was suspended right above the desk for extra light. He saw another makeshift with only a few pieces of paper. His attention was then caught by a large red metal box, one of the only things that wasn't a muted color.

And that's when he saw the piano resting in the very center of the room. Granted, it was small and old, but it was a piano. Austin remembered that told him, or, wrote to him, that she played the piano. He knew he shouldn't ask her. He knew music was a touchy subject, especially because it was easily related to her ex boyfriend. But he knew that she was stronger than this.

"Ally?" He asked her like someone might approach an animal, trying not to spook her. She glanced up, acknowledging him. "Would you- would you play the piano for me?"

She looked hesitant. It was understandable; it was probably something she never did before, something that she did in the confines of her room, alone. Still seeing her reluctance, he didn't ask her again, not wanting to rush her. Instead he shuffled through the papers on the old piano top. There was an expanse of different types of music on it. Chopin's Piano Sonata No. 2, Vivaldi's Four Seasons transposed into piano, other ones which he didn't even recognize and even a few Beatles songs.

On the piano top he saw an old notebook. The cover was brown and worn, it had white stencil of feathers and leaves, and a pink uppercase "A" glued onto it. There was a thick, sparkly, silver, star sticker that was stuck to the upper corner and a thin rope that closed it. He reached out to pick it up, but out of his peripheral, he saw as Ally tensed up, biting her bottom lip as his hand was hovering right above the notebook.

She pulled on her hair ends; she never let anyone touch her book. It wasn't only a songbook, but a diary and journal. It was very precious to her, as it held most, if not all of her emotions. She watched as his hand continued to hover over the book, waiting for her to either allow or veto him from touching her book. She didn't want him to look through her pages which she spent hours pouring out lyrics and feelings. She didn't want him to judge her. She didn't want him to read what he did to her. She wanted to tell him no, like she did with everyone else.

But Austin wasn't everyone else.

He was Austin. Carefree and kind and nice and gentle and loyal, Austin.

And she could trust Austin.

She nodded, giving him the 'okay' for him to pick up the book. He stared at her for a moment more, looking for any last minute hesitation, but she didn't move or say anything. He nodded back, cautiously taking the book and removing the strap which sealed the book closed. He opened to a random page with a few stanzas, and read.

_They've clipped my wings again_  
_Tore them apart and then_  
_Left me_  
_No use to fly away to_  
_My yesterday_  
_Of freedom_  
_My eyes died back that day_  
_Seeing the hurt I may have done_  
_Beat me instead of them_  
_Pain is my only zen_  
_Of fun_

He skipped a page, going towards the end of the book.

_Because of you_  
_I never stray too far from the sidewalk_  
_Because of you_  
_I learned to play on the safe side so I don't get hurt_  
_Because of you_  
_I try my hardest just to forget everything_  
_Because of you_  
_I don't know how to let anyone else in_  
_Because of you_  
_I'm ashamed of my life because it's empty_  
_Because of you_  
_I am afraid_  
_Because of you_

He turned to another page closer towards the middle of the page, not sure if he wanted to continue. There were numerous lines that were crossed out and other scribbles, but one verse stood out among the rest.

_Black, black, black and blue_  
_Beat me 'til I'm numb_  
_Tell the devil I said "Hey" when you get back to where you're from_

He had to clench his teeth together and make his lips a thin line to prevent himself from saying anything or shedding a tear. He closed the book and placed it back where he originally found it. He sat down on the piano bench, facing the keys. He mentally chastised himself. He shouldn't be the one on the verge of tears, he should be comforting her. She was the one who was going through all of this. She poured her heart out and let him read it. He should stay strong.

Even with that in mind, he couldn't help but sniffle quietly and wipe a stray tear from his eyes. He heard the squeak of leather and he assumed Ally moved from her spot, but he didn't turn around, not wanting her to see the clears that were building up in his eyes. He felt her presence next to him on the piano bench. He saw her frail fingers as they rested on top of the keyboards, hovering over the piano keys. He and Ally stayed on the piano bench, the only sound between them being their breaths. It wasn't tense though, as if there was a time limit to when Ally could and couldn't play. He would give her all the time she needed.

He saw a few of her fingers twitch and a press down on a few notes, as if to test out whether it was in tune or not. A few notes and keys quickly harmonized into her playing a tune that he didn't recognize. He looked up at the music rack, but it held no sheets of paper. The song was melodic and elegant, yet velvety and mysterious. He eyed her fingers. Although they looked so small, as she played the piano, they looked so strong and healthy. He watched her play; she looked so alive and upbeat. The sheer and utter joy on her face as she did what she loved doing the most in the entire world. Making music. He closed his eyes, relishing in the tranquil song, as the notes fluttered throughout the room.

As the music came to a close, he let his eyes open lazily. He turned his head to see the brown haired girl looking down at the hands on her lap, her cheeks were pink.

"Your music is amazing, Ally." He told her, smiling brightly.

She smiled back. The words that he used to say, that were lies, suddenly had a new connotation. They became partially true in her eyes.

* * *

This was actually written by my friend, "Red Compassion, Red Love, Red Hate" on the Austin & Ally Wiki... So... Go check them out. Unlike the other previous chapters, the songs were embedded into the story.

A lot of the songs somewhat relate to Ally's case during/after her past "relationship". The different songs were used to get different emotions from parts of Ally's life. For example, _Because of You_ by Kelly Clarkson, shows a bit of progression after Ally was out of her relationship with _him_. _Grenade_ by Bruno Mars was at the very height of Ally's abusive relationship, because that is when the abuse was on/already on a physical level, and _Lemon _by Katy Rose is sort of the in between stage of _Grenade _and _Because of You._ So that being said, only certain lyrics from a song to apply it to Ally's situation. Like, for example, the single verse from Bruno Mars' _Grenade_ or Katy Rose's _Lemon_. Obviously, the whole song didn't exactly, but that verse did.

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